"boots on the ground"

[W Brewer]

WB:  RE: boots on the ground:  In the '60s, a _boot_ was: (1) an
actual shoddy black combat boot that the heel kept falling off of; or
(2) a raw recruit in boot camp, where the cadre constantly threatened
to _put a boot(1) up yer(2) ass_,  as incentive. Whence _boot_camp_
(Basic Combat Training, mostly spit-shining them damn boots(1)).
I don't recall _boots_on_the_ground_ back then; it feels more recent.
JL: Maybe boots gotta march or "walk all over you," but ground forces
just wait to be told what to do.
WB:  boots on the ground does sound better than grunts; everybody else
is support.

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